Why Berlusconi Will Rise Again

Berlusconi in the Italian Senate on Oct. 2, after his attempt to topple the government failed.

The Sunday after Prime Minister Enrico Letta survived an Oct. 2 attempt by Silvio Berlusconi to bring down his government, Letta went on television to declare victory. "I think a political season has been closed," he said, referring to the country's nearly 20 years of political domination by the sex-scandal-plagued former Prime Minister. "The page has been securely turned."

Letta is not the first leader to prematurely declare mission accomplished. The Prime Minister has fractured Berlusconi's political party, forced him into humiliating surrender on national television, and all but ensured that...